French farmers torch hay on Paris' Champs-Elysees

French farmers struggling with slumping grain prices blanketed the Champs-Elysees with bales of hay and set them ablaze Friday, and blocked highways around the country as they demanded government help. About 150 farmers blocked traffic and unloaded hay and tires onto the most famous shopping street in Paris. The protesters set the hay on fire before firefighters quickly extinguished the flames. Grain farmers were staging nationwide protests to call attention to their debts and other difficulties that have mounted as food prices have fallen from record highs in 2007. Protesters disrupted traffic on several highways, from Toulouse in southern France to Calais on the English Channel and Moselle in the northeast.